Method and apparatus for decorating staircases

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatuses for changing the appearance of a staircase by draping, dressing, or covering the staircase or parts thereof with fabric are provided. A fabric is attached to a staircase to conceal a plurality of balusters of the staircase when viewed from at least a first direction. The fabric extends at least the entire length of the balusters. In some embodiments, the fabric conceals at least a part of a handrail of the staircase when viewed from the first direction.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/468,986, which was filed on Mar. 29, 2011, and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to methods and apparatuses for decorating staircases.

BACKGROUND

The stairway of a home is not only functional but can also be the focal point of a room. Existing techniques for decorating a stairway includes adorning parts of the stairway with seasonal items such as garland. The parts of the stairway such as the balusters and handrails are typically decorative and decorating techniques do not attempt to conceal the balusters and handrails.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example unadorned staircase.

FIG. 2 illustrates the stairway of FIG. 1 decorated according to methods and apparatuses disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various implementations of this disclosure provide apparatuses and methods for changing the appearance of a staircase by draping, dressing, or covering the staircase or parts thereof with fabric. In some embodiments, the handrails and balusters are covered or concealed using fabric.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example staircase 100 and parts of the staircase. For example, balusters 110 are the posts that span the distance between the handrail 120 and the steps or stair treads 130 or floor 140. Staircases come in a wide variety of styles such as straight, curved, circular, elliptical, spiral, free standing etc. Staircases or parts thereof can be made from a variety of material such as wood, iron, marble, steel, glass, etc. The different parts of a staircase (e.g., handrails, balusters) come in a wide variety of shapes and designs and can be constructed of a variety of material such as wrought iron and wood. The present disclosure is applicable to all staircase and staircase part types.

As shown in FIG. 2, the appearance of the staircase can be enhanced or changed by, for example, draping the staircase with fabric 200, such as a decorative cloth between the handrail and tread, floor, or other surface to cover or conceal the balusters. In some implementations, some or all of the balusters are concealed such that they cannot be viewed by an observer at least when viewed from a first direction such as shown in FIG. 2. The staircase can be further enhanced by adding accent pieces such as ribbons, as shown in FIG. 2, for example. As further shown in FIG. 2, in some embodiments, the handrail also can be covered or concealed by the fabric.

The fabric can be attached to the staircase by any attachment means such as by hooks and loops (e.g. Velcro) or other reclosable fasteners or any other attachment or fastening technology. In some embodiments, the fabric may include hooks strips on its underside to attach to loops strips attached to the staircase to secure the fabric to the staircase. The loop strips may be attached to the staircase with an adhesive such as a removable adhesive. In an alternate embodiment, the hooks and loops may be interchanged. That is, the fabric may include loops strips on its underside to attach to hooks strips attached to the staircase to secure the fabric to the staircase.

A variety of fabric shapes, materials (e.g. silk, cotton, wool, linen, blends), sizes, colors, patterns, and designs can be used to drape, dress, or cover the staircase or parts thereof. The present disclosure is applicable to all fabric types.

Reference throughout this specification to “an embodiment” or words of similar import means that a particular described feature, structure, or characteristic is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the phrase “in an embodiment” or a phrase of similar import in various places throughout this specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which these inventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings.

The described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the above description, numerous specific details are provided for a thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that embodiments of the invention can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations may not be shown or described in detail. 

1. A method for changing the appearance of a staircase by draping, dressing, or covering the staircase or parts thereof with fabric, the method comprising: attaching fabric to a staircase to conceal a plurality of balusters of the staircase when viewed from at least a first direction wherein the fabric extends at least the entire length of the balusters.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the fabric conceals at least a part of a handrail of the staircase when viewed from the first direction.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the fabric conceals all of the balusters of the staircase.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the fabric conceals all of the handrails of the staircase when viewed from the first direction.
 5. A staircase comprising: a handrail; a plurality of balusters wherein the balusters extend from the handrail to a bottom surface; and fabric extending at least the entire length of the balusters to conceal the plurality of balusters.
 6. The staircase of claim 5 wherein the fabric conceals at least a part of the handrail. 